Canal and rail tunnels under U.S. Steel Bldg.

[Greg King]

Thank you Bob,

That was truly interesting, being "downunder" was not aware of any of this
and I find this archaeology absolutely fascinating.

Greg
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Rathke <brathke at mediaone.net>
To: Pittsburgh Trolley List <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2000 4:07 PM
Subject: Canal and rail tunnels under U.S. Steel Bldg.


> In 1967-68,  I took some  photos of thecconstruction of the U.S. Steel
> Bldg.
> (officially, 600 Grant St.).  Derrick has uploaded one of these photos
> to his website.   See
> <http://www.dementia.org/~shadow/PCC/brathke/CanalTunnel68.jpeg>.
>
> This photo was taken  from Grant St.on 2/11/68, and the view is to the
> south toward the old Bigelow Apartments.  The rubble in the foreground
> is the beginning of the excavation for the foundation of the
> U.S. Steel Bldg.
>
> What's unusual about this scene is the daylighting of TWO tunnels,
> visible along the back wall.  The tunnel to the right is the old PRR
> railroad tunnel that is now used by the PAT subway.  The tunnel to the
> left, above the yellow power shovel, is an older canal tunnel that was
> UNDER the railroad  tunnel. For a very short time in 1968, the canal
> tunnel was visible.
>
> The canal and its tunnel are shown on a copy of an 1830 map of downtown
> Pittsburgh that I have.  In 1830, more than two decades before the PRR
> railroad was completed between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, a water
> canal connected the two cities.  The canal boats from Philadelphia were
> hauled over the Allegheny Mountains on incline railways, and then
> traveled by water to Pittsburgh.  However, the boats didn't enter the
> city by river - they were floated on an elevated canal that paralleled
> the north shore of the Allegheny River (near the present Canal St.).
> The elevated canal crossed the Allegheny River on a BRIDGE near the
> present 11th Street, and near the site of the current Federal Bldg. it
> went into a tunnel under Grants Hill.  The tunnel was not straight, but
> had an "S" shape, and emerged near Ross Street and the Monongahela
> River.  However...at that point the canal was still some height above
> river level (remember that the canal crossed the Allegheny River on a
> bridge), so there were a series of locks near Ross St. (and the present
> Liberty Bridge)
> that allowed the boats to descend to the level of the Monongahela River.
>
> It's hard to believe that this canal and tunnel were constructed by hand
>
> and operated for several decades in the early 19th Century!  It was easy
> to identify locations of the canal and tunnel, because even in 1830,
> many Pittsburgh streets had the same names that they have today.
>
> By the way, part of the canal's incline railway over the Allegheny
> Mountains has been reconstructed, and the site is managed by the
> National Parks
> Service along Rt. 22 near Altoona.  It's worth a visit.
>
> Although the downtown canal tunnel has been publicized previously,
> especially around the time of the PAT subway construction, I find the
> 1968 photo to be very interesting.  The tunnel was uncovered - and then
> covered - in an era when the concept of "preservation" didn't get much
> attention.  Wouldn't it be great if today you could walk in the basement
> of the USS Bldg. and see a museum-quality display that was a
> cross-section cut of the actual canal tunnel?
>
> Bob 12/16
>
>